The World’s Cleanest Energy Source Is Nearly Here
Minesto’s Dragon 12 is an utter game-changer.
Here’s a question, what’s the lowest carbon form of energy? Solar? Wind? Maybe nuclear? Well, if you guessed tidal, you’d be right. Don’t get me wrong, nuclear, wind, and solar have amazingly low emissions at 4g per kWh, 4g per kWh and 6g per kWh, respectively. Tidal, on the other hand, has more than 50% less emissions than nuclear or wind at just 1.8g per kWh! So why don’t we use it more? Well, for years, it has been extortionately expensive and utterly impractical. But, thanks to Minesto’s Dragon 12 tidal power kite, that might be about to change and usher in a new era of insanely cheap, ultra-low carbon energy.
So, why is tidal energy so damn efficient? It’s all to do with density. Let me explain.
Tidal energy works the same way as wind energy. As the water flows past, it spins a turbine, which turns a generator and creates useable energy. But, as water is nearly a thousand times denser than air, it holds far more kinetic energy when moving at the same speed. This increase is so dramatic that a litre of water moving at 1 meter per second (2.2 mph) has the same kinetic energy as a litre of air moving at 27.84 meters per second (62.3 mph). Moreover, there are plenty of places on Earth where tides regularly exceed 1 meter per second…
